BLTE vs TAK vs MRK Stock Comparison

Belite Bio, Takeda Pharmaceutical and Merck Prices as of Oct 27, 2026 Peers: Industry group
BLTE Belite Bio, Inc
$145.72 -12.9% 1M +55.3% 1Y
Market cap
$4.97B
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
—
Div. yield
–
Pharmaceuticals Healthcare
MRK Merck & Co., Inc.
$141.84 -4.7% 1M +61.2% 1Y
Market cap
$347.85B
P/E
109.6x
Revenue (TTM)
$66.57B
Div. yield
0.02%
Pharmaceuticals Healthcare
7 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Merck leads on 7 of the 12 questions below (Merck 7, Takeda Pharmaceutical 4). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionBLTETAKMRKLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $4.97B $63.46B $347.85B MRK
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only -64.5x 110.5x 109.6x MRK
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS — 50.7x 57.2x TAK
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months — +0.7% +4.6% MRK
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months — 1.2% 4.8% MRK
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — 3.5% 3.6% MRK
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — 3.5x 3.6x TAK
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.02% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +55.3% +43.2% +61.2% MRK
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years — +7.5%/yr +10.4%/yr MRK
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 53.8% 21.5% 29.6% TAK
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers — 62/100 62/100 TAK

Percentile Scorecard

BLTETAKMRK

Each axis is the mean percentile of its metrics against the company's industry group. 100 is the best in the group, 50 the middle.

Scores by Axis

AxisBLTETAKMRK
Valuation 58 #263 of 625 97 #17 of 625 80 #124 of 625
Growth 2 #593 of 602 21 #478 of 602 36 #384 of 602
Profitability – 85 #82 of 551 91 #53 of 551
Financial Health – 34 #431 of 656 20 #526 of 656
Shareholder Returns – 73 #98 of 365 82 #68 of 365
Overall – 62 62
  • BLTE ranked among 672 companies in Pharmaceuticals and Biotechnology
  • TAK ranked among 672 companies in Pharmaceuticals and Biotechnology
  • MRK ranked among 672 companies in Pharmaceuticals and Biotechnology

Price Performance

Price return, split-adjusted, before dividends. Click a name to hide or show it.

Returns

PeriodBLTETAKMRKSPY
1 month -12.9%+7.6%-4.7% -0.2%
3 months -6.6%+15.6%+7.6% +3.9%
6 months -8.2%+23.6%+28.9% +8.2%
Year to date -8.9%+30.1%+34.8% +12.9%
1 year +55.3%+43.2%+61.2% +12.3%
3 years +291.2%+50.6%+37.9% +87.4%
3 years, per year +57.6%+14.6%+11.3% +23.3%
5 years —+43.8%+63.9% +67.9%
5 years, per year —+7.5%+10.4% +10.9%
10 years —-10.9%+131.4% +261.1%
10 years, per year —-1.2%+8.8% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureBLTETAKMRKSPY
Volatility, 1Y 53.8%21.5%29.6% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 48.5%20.2%24.6% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.040.110.12 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 1.032.012.07 0.97
Max drawdown, 5Y -74.6%-26.4%-44.7% -25.4%
From 52-week high -24.7%-0.7%-9.3% -1.2%
52-week high $193.61$20.43$156.45 $779.14
52-week low $93.02$13.23$82.49 $631.97

Valuation History

Weekly multiples on trailing twelve-month fundamentals. Negative or extreme readings (a loss year, a collapsed denominator) are left out so the chart stays readable.

MultipleBLTETAKMRK
P/E now vs peer median -63.4xmedian 17.2x 111.3xmedian 17.2x 110.4xmedian 17.2x
P/S now vs peer median —median 9.0x 1.4xmedian 9.0x 5.3xmedian 9.0x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median —median 16.3x 12.4xmedian 16.3x 30.3xmedian 16.3x
P/FCF now vs peer median —median 18.7x 12.4xmedian 18.7x 21.8xmedian 18.7x
P/B now vs peer median 7.4xmedian 2.2x 1.4xmedian 2.2x 8.3xmedian 2.2x
PEG now vs peer median 1.52median 0.33 -2.74median 0.33 69.50median 0.33

Financial History

Reported figures by fiscal period, placed on the calendar year (or quarter) each period ended in, so companies with different fiscal years line up.

Trailing twelve monthsBLTETAKMRK
Revenue – $46.49B $66.57B
Gross profit – $30.58B $48.57B
Operating income -$90.61M $2.71B $6.38B
Net income -$102.25M -$1.04B $3.17B
Free cash flow – $5.20B $16.06B
R&D $44.18M $4.53B $30.45B
EPS (diluted) $-2.30 $0.18 $1.28
Cash & equivalents – $2.85B $6.85B
Total debt – $126.30B $53.91B
Shares (diluted) 33.54M 3.15B 2.47B
Enterprise value $4.97B $39.82B $302.23B

All Metrics

58 metrics · best in bold

Bold marks the best reading: the lowest positive value for multiples, leverage and payout, the highest for everything else. The bar under each value is its percentile against that company's own peers. Hover a value for its rank and the peer median.

Valuation

12 metrics
MetricBLTETAKMRK
P/E -63.4x 111.3x 110.4x
P/FCF – 12.4x 21.8x
P/Operating cash flow – 10.3x 17.5x
P/S – 1.4x 5.3x
P/B 7.4x 1.4x 8.3x
P/Tangible book 7.4x 2.5x 20.6x
EV/EBITDA – 12.4x 30.3x
EV/EBIT -63.3x 33.2x 62.2x
EV/Revenue – 1.9x 6.0x
EV/FCF – 17.3x 24.7x
EV/Operating cash flow – 14.3x 19.9x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 1.52 -2.74 69.50

Growth

14 metrics
MetricBLTETAKMRK
Revenue growth (1Y) – 0.7% 4.6%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) – 14.8% 4.5%
Gross profit growth (1Y) – -0.8% -0.3%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – -0.2% 4.5%
Operating income growth (1Y) -111.4% -43.4% -66.6%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -77.7% -14.3% 1.9%
Net income growth (1Y) -108.0% -209.1% -80.7%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -85.2% -35.3% 0.5%
EPS growth (1Y) -78.6% -75.7% -80.3%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -41.8% -40.6% 1.6%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) – -14.8% 7.7%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) – -4.4% 9.8%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) – -13.3% 9.1%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) – -5.2% 14.0%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricBLTETAKMRK
Gross margin – 65.8% 73.0%
EBITDA margin – 15.6% 19.7%
Operating margin – 5.8% 9.6%
Pretax margin – 2.6% 8.9%
Net margin – 1.2% 4.8%
FCF margin – 11.2% 24.1%
Operating cash flow margin – 13.5% 30.0%
Return on equity -9.8% 1.2% 7.2%
Return on assets -9.6% 0.6% 2.5%
Return on invested capital – 3.5% 3.6%
Return on capital employed – 3.0% 6.3%
Asset turnover – 0.5x 0.5x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) – -6.0x 6.3x
Stock comp / revenue – 1.0% 1.3%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricBLTETAKMRK
Debt / assets – 32.0% 41.5%
Debt / equity – 0.7x 1.3x
Net debt / EBITDA – 3.5x 3.6x
Debt / FCF – 6.0x 3.4x
Liabilities / assets 1.9% 51.7% 67.7%
Equity / assets 98.1% 48.3% 32.3%
Interest coverage – 0.8x –
Current ratio – 3.2x 1.3x
Quick ratio – 1.9x 0.7x
Cash ratio – 0.9x 0.3x
Altman Z-score – 1.57 3.83

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricBLTETAKMRK
Dividend yield – 1.5% 2.4%
Net buyback yield – 1.0% 1.1%
Shareholder yield – 2.5% 3.5%
Payout ratio (earnings) – – 261.8%
Payout ratio (FCF) – – 51.7%
Dividend growth (1Y) – – 3.3%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – – 4.7%

Analyst Estimates

Solid lines are reported fiscal-year results; dashed lines are the consensus for the years ahead. Hover a year for the analysts' high and low, and how each result compared with its estimate.

ConsensusBLTETAKMRK
Forward P/E – 50.7xFY2026 57.2xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $-3.11FY2026 $0.40FY2026 $2.48FY2026
EPS growth, next FY – +5.3%FY2026 -72.4%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after – +62.5% +257.3%
Revenue, next fiscal year $0.00FY2026 $28.27BFY2026 $69.45BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY – -0.8%FY2026 +6.8%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after – +11.9% -3.8%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersBLTETAKMRK
Held by institutions 28.2% 3.3% 79.9%
Institutions holding 82 378 3,796
Change in shares held, QoQ +3.4% +6.2% +2.6%
Institutions buying 51 212 1,842
Institutions selling 22 98 1,464
Buyers to sellers 2.32 2.16 1.26

Return Correlation

Daily returns, last 12 months

1.00 means two stocks move in lockstep, 0 that they move independently. Pairs below about 0.5 diversify each other.

BLTETAKMRK
BLTE 1.00 0.10 0.12
TAK 0.10 1.00 0.41
MRK 0.12 0.41 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, BLTE, TAK and MRK?

Merck (MRK) is the largest by market capitalisation: Belite Bio (BLTE) $4.97B, Takeda Pharmaceutical (TAK) $63.46B, Merck (MRK) $347.85B.

Which stock is cheaper, BLTE, TAK and MRK?

Merck (MRK) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Belite Bio (BLTE) -64.5x, Takeda Pharmaceutical (TAK) 110.5x, Merck (MRK) 109.6x). On next year's consensus earnings, Takeda Pharmaceutical (TAK) is cheapest (Takeda Pharmaceutical (TAK) 50.7x, Merck (MRK) 57.2x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Merck (MRK) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Takeda Pharmaceutical (TAK) +0.7%, Merck (MRK) +4.6%.

Which company is more profitable?

Merck (MRK) has the highest net margin (Takeda Pharmaceutical (TAK) 1.2%, Merck (MRK) 4.8%). On return on invested capital, Merck (MRK) leads (Takeda Pharmaceutical (TAK) 3.5%, Merck (MRK) 3.6%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Merck (MRK) returned the most: Belite Bio (BLTE) +55.3%, Takeda Pharmaceutical (TAK) +43.2%, Merck (MRK) +61.2%. Over five years, Merck (MRK) compounded fastest (Takeda Pharmaceutical (TAK) +7.5%/yr, Merck (MRK) +10.4%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Belite Bio (BLTE) 0.00%, Takeda Pharmaceutical (TAK) 0.00%, Merck (MRK) 0.02%. Belite Bio (BLTE) and Takeda Pharmaceutical (TAK) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Takeda Pharmaceutical (TAK) has been the steadiest (Belite Bio (BLTE) 53.8%, Takeda Pharmaceutical (TAK) 21.5%, Merck (MRK) 29.6%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, BLTE, TAK and MRK?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Merck (MRK) leads on 7. Business Quant does not give investment advice; use the comparison as a starting point for your own research.

Data from SEC filings, exchange prices and consensus estimates, via Business Quant. Percentile scores compare each company with its own peer group, so two companies' scores are each relative to different peers unless you rank against the whole market. Price returns exclude dividends. Nothing on this page is investment advice.